- Families of US sailors denounce Trump and Hegseth for “dismissing their experiences and calling them liars”
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Naval families with loved ones deployed for months on US warships amid the Iran war have reacted with fury to Donald Trump and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismissal of their concerns about the extreme pressures and dire conditions they are enduring. … The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier with more than 5,000 sailors and marines onboard, has been at sea for nearly nine months, having begun its deployment in November. There have been reports of multiple suicide attempts including jumping overboard. When Trump was asked on Friday whether naval families were worried about conditions on board, he replied: ‘No, they’re not.’ He said that the Lincoln’s deployment, now in its ninth month, was ‘not nearly long enough’. Earlier, Hegseth also swatted away families’ concerns, saying that the reality onboard the Lincoln had been ‘completely misrepresented’.” (08/16/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/16/navy-families-denounce-trump-hegseth
- Trump Regime Asks SCOTUS to Greenlight White House Ballroom Boondoggle
Sourc: New York Times
“The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to bless the construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing. The planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom has been mired in litigation ever since the president tore down the East Wing in October as part of his plan to dramatically remake the White House campus. But the courts have let Mr. Trump build even while questioning the project’s legality, allowing the ballroom to steadily rise in recent months. The administration’s request for intervention from the nation’s highest court comes after an appeals court said on Aug. 7 that the president had most likely exceeded his authority by moving ahead with the privately financed project without approval from Congress.” (08/14/26)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/us/politics/trump-ballroom-white-house-supreme-court.html
- Burning Man launches unprecedented promotion two weeks before gates open
Source: SFGate
“With two weeks to go before the gates to Burning Man’s Black Rock City swing open, organizers of the famously dusty desert bacchanal have launched an unprecedented promotion: Buy a bus seat from San Francisco or Reno to the event, and it comes with access to the lowest-cost general admission ticket. ‘We know that the decision to participate in Black Rock City can happen at the last minute, so we’re making a limited number of $550 lower-priced ‘Get the Gift’ tickets available to participants traveling to BRC as part of a Burner Express Bus (BXB) bundle,’ a Burning Man spokesperson told SFGATE by email. ‘The BXB program makes it easier and more affordable to get to Black Rock City, while helping reduce the environmental impact of travel — easing traffic and decreasing the number of vehicles on the roads.'” (08/15/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/burning-man-ticket-deal-22388715.php
- Amazon reinstates binding arbitration, bars class-action lawsuits
Source: Reuters
“Amazon on Friday reinstated binding arbitration for its U.S. customers while also barring them from seeking class-action lawsuits, making it more difficult for users to address grievances in court. In emails on Friday, Amazon said the changes are effective immediately and customers agree to the terms by continuing to use the company’s services. Often, companies alert customers to upcoming changes to their terms of service weeks in advance. Previously, Amazon said customers should pursue legal claims in court in Washington state, where Amazon is based. Five years ago, Amazon revoked binding arbitration after facing tens of thousands of costly individual cases.” (08/15/26)
- Morocco: Regime abducts dozens of migrants trying to cross into Ceuta
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Moroccan authorities have intercepted dozens of migrants seeking to cross into the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta, reports say. More than 100 people were blocked trying to make their way to the border on the outskirts of the town of Fnideq, according to Moroccan security sources cited by Spanish media and the Reuters news agency. It comes a fortnight after roughly 78,000 migrants arrived in the exclave by sea in a matter of hours – 100 of whom died, according to the city’s mayor, who also said the vast majority of arrivals had returned to Morocco. Security had been stepped up in the area after the influx and amid suggestions on social media of a second mass crossing attempt this weekend. The security sources said 111 people had been detained in or around Fnideq – known in Spanish as Castillejos – about 3km (1.8 miles) from the border, the majority of whom were from sub-Saharan Africa.” (08/15/26)
- UK: Jason Arday, ex-Cambridge professor at centre of plagiarism scandal, found dead
Source: Reuters
“Jason Arday, a former University of Cambridge professor who was at the centre of a plagiarism scandal, has died aged 41. Arday had resigned earlier this month as a professor of sociology of education following the accusations, which caused a furore in the world of academia. He was the university’s youngest ever [b]lack professor. … A high-profile professor who appeared frequently in the media, Arday faced accusations this year that parts of his 2015 PhD thesis were plagiarised, which he denied. The allegations expanded to include apparent inconsistencies in Arday’s other academic work, and questions over his claims about his career, personal life and medical conditions.” (08/14/26)
- HI: One dead, homes swept away as Hurricane Lala brings heavy rain
Source: NBC News
“One person was killed in a storm-related car crash as Hurricane Lala brought fierce winds and pouring rain to Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday. Footage on social media showed floodwaters rising, overtaking roadways and bridges as Lala dumped rain on Hawaii’s Big Island. Howling winds whipped the tops of palm trees and waterways swelled with fast-moving runoff from relentless rain that blew nearly sideways. According to the National Weather Service Honolulu, two homes were swept away due to intense rainfall over Naalehu, with flash flooding ongoing. More than 125,000 utility customers in the state, most on the Big Island, were without electricity, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.” (08/16/26)
- Liechtenstein changes succession rule to allow women to ascend the throne
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Liechtenstein has announced that it has changed royal succession rules to allow women to ascend the throne. The declaration was made on the national day of the central European country, which has a population of just 44,000. Liechtenstein’s current ruler, Prince Hans-Adam II, has been the head of their royal family since 1989. The rule change will not affect his heir, Hereditary Prince Alois, who was his first-born. Alois has carried out most official royal duties for the last two decades. ‘The order of succession is being changed from male primogeniture to absolute primogeniture,’ the House of Liechtenstein said in a statement. ‘This means that in future the first-born child, regardless of sex, will become heir to the throne and later princess or prince of Liechtenstein.'” (08/15/26)
- Lebanon: Israeli strikes kill 15
Source: United Press International
“Two Israeli strikes hit Lebanon and killed at least 11 people early Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, then struck another site killing four more. Health ministry officials said an overnight strike in Ansar, near the city of Nabatieh, killed seven people, including three children. A few hours later, Israeli planes attacked Deir al-Zahrani, killing at least four and injuring 17. Ansar is about 43 miles south of Beirut. The Israeli military said in a statement that the Ansar attacks targeted Hezbollah infrastructure. The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement that Hezbollah first struck and seriously injured three Israeli soldiers.” (08/15/26)
- US pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia as Trump focuses on Iran & Western Hemisphere
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump’s war against Iran is stretching the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression. The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran. The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.” (08/15/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-pulls-last-aircraft-carrier-in-asia-as-trump-22389611.php
- Australia: State regime to launch gun buyback after Bondi Beach attack
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Australia’s most populous state will launch a gun buyback scheme later this year, becoming the first to offer cash in exchange for firearms in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack. Gun owners in New South Wales (NSW) will be offered up to AUS$1,000 (£523) to hand over eligible handguns, shotguns and rifles from 2 November. Australian authorities had pledged sweeping firearm law reforms after 15 people were shot dead at a Jewish festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, which is located in NSW, last December. The state’s premier Chris Minns said on Saturday: ‘We want those guns handed in, compensated for and safely destroyed’. He said the move could see hundreds of thousands of guns surrendered.” (08/15/26)
- South Korea: Lee proposes talks with Pyongyang to formally end war
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“South Korean President Lee Jae-myung proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the long-running Korean War, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Russia while asserting its status as an ‘irreversible’ nuclear state. The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict, triggered by a North Korean attack, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Lee made the proposal in his speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. … Lee has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions.” (08/15/26)
- Tax Supporters Falsely Define “Cost” and “Lose”
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Normally when we speak of ‘losing’ something or ‘costing’ something, it’s in terms of already having that thing. You lose $50 on a bet, or a steak dinner costs you $50. Using the definition preferred by supporters of ever-increasing government revenue, though, I ‘lost’ thousands of dollars yesterday when I walked past a bank instead of walking in, waving a gun at the tellers, and taking all the cash from their drawers. It ‘cost’ me thousands of dollars. And committing to not robbing every bank I happen to walk past in the future ‘costs’ me too. I’m ‘losing’ all that money! Oh, the humanity! … even if one supports taxation for the purpose of funding government operations, it’s beyond dishonest to claim that cutting, or just not raising, taxes is a ‘cost’ or a ‘loss’ to government.” (08/15/26)
- The Right To Be Left Alone
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano“The rapid spread of public surveillance cameras represents something far more consequential than a new piece of police technology. It represents a fundamental change in the relationship between the individual and the state. These cameras allow government agents to record, identify, catalog and retroactively track the movements of people who have committed no crime, are suspected of no wrongdoing and have done nothing to invite government scrutiny. That’s not public safety. It’s an assault upon individual privacy. Privacy is not a privilege granted by government. It is an aspect of personal liberty that government exists to protect. It is a natural human right protected from the government in the Bill of Rights. The fact that a person leaves his home and travels upon a public road does not mean that he has surrendered that right.” (08/14/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2026/08/13/the-right-to-be-left-alone-2/
- Decentralization is Insurance
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell“[D]ecentralization prevents a lot. The idea is that because you control and own your own data, and because the entire network isn’t owned by a single person or company, you have long-term freedom that can’t get taken away by the whims of the company behind whatever platform you’re using. On a centralized and closed platform, if ownership shuts it down or changes it in ways you find intolerable, you’ve got two options: stick it out and suffer or leave and lose all your friends. On a decentralized and open network, if the particular piece of it you’re on (the server, the app) shuts it down or changes it in ways you find intolerable, you’ve got a third option: head somewhere else, but keep your connections to all your friends. … Decentralization is, in other words, insurance. And that’s why it’s such a hard sell.” (08/14/26)
- What can Libertarians Learn from Foucault?
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Winton Bates“Before reading Mark Pennington’s recent book, Foucault and Liberal Political Economy: Power, Knowledge, and Freedom, it would not have occurred to me that libertarians could learn anything from the social theories of Michel Foucault. Pennington has persuaded me that some beliefs associated with Foucault, and postmodernism more generally, are not devoid of merit. As will be discussed below, however, the beliefs that he identifies as postmodern differ somewhat from the collection of beliefs that I have hitherto associated with postmodernism.” (08/16/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/08/what-can-libertarians-learn-from.html
- Ninety-One Years of Social Security: The Case for Personal Retirement Accounts
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey‘FDR signed the program into law in 1935. Demographic shifts and federal spending created trillions in unfunded liabilities. Private accounts offer a direct path to real wealth.” (08/14/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/ninety-one-years-of-social-security
- Stop funding school systems; let the money follow the child
Source: Fox News
by Stephen Moore & Ed Pozzuoli“The Watergate-era maxim still applies today: follow the money. In American education, the question is not how much money is spent, but where the money goes. Does funding follow institutions, or does it follow children? Does it serve adult interests, or truly benefit students? This distinction increasingly explains why some states spend more without producing better results, while others see academic gains by empowering parents with meaningful educational choices. New York City is a striking example. In 2024, its Department of Education spent roughly $40 billion, about $36,000 per pupil, one of the highest levels in the nation. Despite this massive investment, student literacy outcomes remain dire. Recent reports found that in 503 of 906 NYC schools studied, most students failed both reading and math exams. State data revealed only 29% of eighth graders were proficient in reading.” (08/14/26)
- Liberalism Is the Underdog Now, and it’s Time to Act Like It
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig“Trump’s populist style ensures he will always try to project himself as the outsider on a crusade against ‘the establishment’—but as his party’s nominee in the last three presidential elections, and as a winner of two of them, he has no business portraying his movement as the rebellion when it is actually the empire. It’s time liberals made that clear by embracing an underdog spirit befitting liberalism’s new underdog reality.” (08/15/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/liberalism-is-the-underdog-now-and
- Trump’s “Low-Key” Economic Strategy Won’t Work
Source: The American Conservative
by Ivan Eland“Although President Donald Trump is unable to publicly admit that ‘mistakes were made’ in his war with Iran—as American leaders sometimes describe their own blunders—he seems to be implicitly acknowledging that the military strategy he pursued has failed. He’s moving to a new strategy of extracting concessions from Iran via economic coercion, rather than bombing. Trump has described this as a ‘low-key’ and longer-term approach to the conflict. … Trump’s strategy of wearing Iran down economically would seemingly require him to keep the blockade and sanctions in place and the assets frozen, and certainly rules out providing war reparations. Moreover, the strategy isn’t truly ‘new’—America has long maintained economic pressure on Iran—and there’s little reason to suppose it will work now.” (08/15/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trumps-low-key-economic-strategy-wont-work/
- Japan eyes nonartificial intelligence
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“In trying to hatch their own artificial intelligence, many countries are playing catch-up to the two world giants: the United States and China. In recent months, however, Japan has taken a different course. It admits it cannot create the most advanced AI models. Yet it might be the first nation to put AI at the center of a new economic strategy. In late July, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s Cabinet approved a plan to inject $2.3 trillion in public and private investment toward strengthening key industries by 2040, starting with AI and the computer chips that run it. The plan goes beyond merely automating current work, improving efficiencies, cutting costs, or boosting the economy. It would also enhance human creativity and innovation by focusing on applying AI to real-world problems – starting on the factory floor of Japan’s existing world-class manufacturing industries.” (08/14/26)
- Sex and the Socialist Girl
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D WilliamsonThere is a difference between reporting and storytelling, and the story many observers wanted to tell this summer—that this primary season is a referendum on the ideological future of the Democratic Party—is at least in part at odds with the reported facts. Sometimes the DSA wackadoodle pulls it out, sometimes the relatively sober municipal-government guy takes the win. That’s the thing about elections: Whatever you may hear on the internet, they really are not fixed—on Election Day, things can go either way. … The general consensus among psephologists is that female major-party candidates do about as well as male major-party candidates for federal office, ceteris paribus. But the picture gets a little more complicated when you start asking the right questions.” (08/14/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/sex-socialism-hong-stevens-women/
- Maniacal “Mangionistas” think he’s a martyr, but really he’s just a sad-sack loser
Source: New York Post
by Kirsten Fleming“He’s guilty as sin. Luigi Mangione has now admitted his role in the brazen murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson back in December of 2024. ‘I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,’ Mangione declared Friday morning in Manhattan Federal Court. Those chilling words should put the 28-year-old behind bars for life. However, among his depraved army of fangirls, Mangione’s guilty plea only bolsters his status as a righteous warrior. As one self-declared ‘Mangionista’, 27-year-old Abril Rios, said outside the courthouse: ‘I see it more of a revolutionary act of protest, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the civil rights era.’ Another dimwit gushed that she and the killer used the same sleeping medication, calling it ‘a little bonding moment.'” (08/14/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/14/opinion/luigi-mangione-is-no-martyr-hes-a-cold-blooded-murderer/
- The evolution of governments into aristocratic forms
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“When a crisis is upon a society, it is natural to seek those who can and will take charge. And rapidly, silence and neuter those who are unwilling to join into a ‘common effort’ led by those emergent leaders. In some cases (even some recorded in history), once the crisis is resolved, that leadership steps back, retires. (The classical example is Cincinnatus of Rome. We might also consider Devorah of Issachar and Barak of Naphtali or other Judges of Israel, such as Gideon of Manassah. Some point to George Washington of Virginia.) But what we see the most is those in power who retained and even increased their power after the crisis was resolved. Octavian (Augustus), Gideon’s son Abimelech, Napoleon Bonaparte, Santa Ana de Lopez, are a few that come to mind.” (08/15/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/15/the-evolution-of-governments-into-aristocratic-forms/
- Today In Dystopia: Flock Camera Tyranny And Sam Altman Surveillance
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Today in dystopia, the US government is monitoring the social media accounts of individuals who oppose the rapidly spreading installation of Flock surveillance cameras throughout the United States. … Mass surveillance is dramatically escalating around the world as the public grows increasingly discontented with the soul-crushing, planet-devouring, murderous abuses of the imperial status quo. In order to keep us subjugated, they need to control us. In order to control us, they need to spy on us. That’s what all these surging authoritarian measures are all about. … Today in dystopia, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says we are not far off from artificial intelligence monitoring every facet of our lives 24/7 in order to give it more ‘context’ for the assistance it can offer us throughout our day.” (08/14/26)
- Who Owns the Pandemic Record?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Colleen Aldous & Eleftherios Gkioulekas“On July 29, 2026, we watched Dr. Anthony Fauci’s appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which was coerced via Congressional subpoena after he declined to appear voluntarily. The hearing reopened a deep wound. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we were part of a minority group that fought for the science of early outpatient multidrug treatments for Covid-19 based on repurposed medications with an excellent safety record, including but not limited to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Other minority groups advocated for the truthful investigation of other equally important matters such as the cost/benefit calculation of the lockdown policies, vaccine safety, the ethics of vaccine mandates, and the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We were all marginalized by several government public health agencies and by the downstream institutions that deferred to government public health policies and recommendations.” (08/15/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/who-owns-the-pandemic-record/
- The Digital Currency Road Less Traveled
Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth“In the sections that follow, I will briefly look at the two different paths being taken by the United States and Europe in their pursuit of digital currencies. To paraphrase poet Robert Frost, there are two roads diverging in the digital currency woods, but unlike Frost’s traveler we get to see both roads taken. The question is which one will make all the difference.” (08/14/26)
https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-digital-currency-road-less-traveled
- Fascists Really Believe It
Source: Liberal Currents
by Toby Buckle“Living through a global resurgence of fascism, the greatest difficulty has proved to be not arguing against it, but convincing non-fascists that fascism’s adherents really mean it. That they believe what they are telling us they believe—and they will act accordingly. The overwhelming instinct is to view calls for 100 million deportations in the US, civil war in the UK, arresting or executing political leaders, eliminating of trans people, rolling women’s rights back centuries, legalising domestic violence, and global genocide as a sort of trolling, or ugly incoherent rhetoric. But these are plain statements of intent. That modern fascists haven’t fully achieved these goals doesn’t somehow prove they don’t want to.” (08/14/26)
- Usury is Politics, Not Economics
Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato“[O]ne need not accept the Pope’s Christian faith in order to oppose usury as a social relationship of unjust, exploitative power. And it is a relationship of power rather than one of mere economics, as if the latter exists in a sphere separate from the former. It may surprise some that one of American history’s most ardent and consistent proponents of free markets and individual liberty was also one of its greatest critics of usury. The anarchist Benjamin Tucker set forth to confront ‘a most momentous question,’ the question of who receives ‘the surplus wealth that labor produces and does not consume.’ For Tucker, usury was the key characteristic of capitalism, but it was the result of political power, not economic relationships of free and voluntary exchange.” (08/14/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/14/usury-is-politics-not-economics/
- Report: Newsom’s High Speed Train to Nowhere not Arriving Anytime Soon
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been frantically trying to restart a presidential campaign that appears moribund, with polls showing him losing in some states to figures such as Pete Buttigieg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In his absence, his multibillion-dollar high-speed train also seems to be going nowhere fast. A new report from the state inspector general revealed that the train will be delayed again and that the public is being kept in the dark about ongoing problems with Newsom’s signature project. Oh, and one more thing: the project will run out of money by December 2027. Benjamin Belnap’s report revealed the project is again running out of money. It found missing details in the project’s 2026 business plan, and concluded that the project will again be out of money by next year. The state has already spent $18 billion, but it will need at least another $18 billion to finish the first segment.” (08/15/26)
- President Trump Simply Loves Tariffs
Source: Independent Institute
by Brady Leonard“The 47th president has a habit of waffling on important issues ranging from abortion to gun rights, but another position he has long maintained is his commitment to protectionism. Not only did Trump use executive action during his first term to impose tariffs on aluminum, steel, and other products, he also promised the nation that tariffs would be a centerpiece of his second-term economic vision. ‘To me the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff.’ It’s my favorite word,’ he said in a 2024 interview. Occam’s razor suggests the president was not duped by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House advisor Peter Navarro, or postliberal pseudo-economists (to be generous) such as Oren Cass any more than he was ‘fooled’ by Bibi Netanyahu or the late-Senator Lindsey Graham. The man just loves tariffs, despite the data.” (08/14/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/14/trump-loves-tariffs-2/
- Socialists Claim Public Libraries Are Examples of Their Policies. Don’t Believe Them.
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Libraries aren’t all that socialist, and they’re far from the total state the radicals really want.” (08/14/26)
- The Lesson of 1971 Was Never About Gold
Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl“President Nixon abandoned the gold standard. The deeper problem was a monetary system dependent on political judgment.” (08/14/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-lesson-of-1971-was-never-about-gold/
- What Locke Knew About Elites
Source: Persuasion
by Teresa M Bejan“Of course, understanding who Locke was, or what he actually believed, has always been more difficult than proclaiming what he represents. Despite his qualms about Catholics—and atheists, too, as we shall see—Locke is still commonly celebrated as the inventor of the modern liberal approach to tolerance, understood as a commitment to separating church and state and protecting individual rights.” (08/14/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-long-history-of-the-liberal-establishment
- Ahoy! Ahoy! The Telephone, Entrepreneurship, and Cronyism
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter“On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted US Patent No. 174,565 for the speaking telegraph or telephone. Three weeks earlier, on February 14, both Bell and another inventor, Elisha Gray, submitted their respective ideas to the US Patent Office. On March 10, Bell used a liquid transmitter (an early microphone) to call his assistant, Thomas Watson, with the words, ‘Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you.’ This is commonly regarded as the first intelligible voice transmission over an electrical wire. With that in mind, this year not only marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, the 100th year of Murray Rothbard, and 40 years of Mises University, but also 150 years since the official invention of the telephone. This provides an opportunity to review the history of how telephone invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship—combined with cronyism, patents, regulations, and monopoly—shaped the landscape of the telephone industry for generations.” (08/14/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/ahoy-ahoy-telephone-entrepreneurship-and-cronyism
- A Bold Demand to Liberate the US From the Medical-Industrial Complex
Source: Common Dreams
by Judy Albert, Claire M Cohen, Ed Grystar, Ana Malinow, Julie Noh-Smith, & Kay Tillow“On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass addressed the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society with an oration called, ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ In 1852, the United States was a young country, only 76 years old, and given its youth, Douglass held out hope for the country that put him and 3 million Black men, women, and children in chains. He called Congress and judges ‘inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous’. He accused the church of being the ‘bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters’. Still, he held out hope.” [editor’s note: SIX co-writers? I know all too well how song cowriting by committee turns out, most of the time – SAT] (08/15/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/free-us-from-medical-industrial-complex
- True Courage in Hong Kong
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Rachel Chiu“As Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment shows, a country’s economic prosperity means very little if it fails to preserve civil liberties. … Lai, a self-made entrepreneur and billionaire, had the opportunity to flee before his arrest, but chose to stay to encourage millions of Hong Kongers to keep fighting for the freedom and autonomy that the region has had for decades. His plight resonates strongly with me because of my family’s experiences during the Chinese Communist Revolution, but it should be just as meaningful for every American who believes in the virtues of economic and social freedoms.” (08/14/26)
- Small Missouri Towns Are Paying a High Price for Open Government
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Patrick Tuohey“Between April 2021 and February 2026, the small city of Sedalia paid a single law firm, Lauber Municipal Law, just shy of $2 million—nearly one invoice per business day, according to reporting by Genevieve Smith and Annie Goldman of the Columbia Missourian. Sedalia’s population is a little over 20,000. Out of its $35 million budget for fiscal year 2026, the city set aside $500,000 for legal fees. Residents are asking why. The answer, at least in part, is Missouri’s Sunshine Law.” (08/14/26)
- Taming Odysseus
Source: Law & Liberty
by James R Rogers“Christopher Nolan wants to tell a fundamentally different story than Homer told.” (08/14/26)
- The Last Conservative Consensus
Source: Law & Liberty
by George Hawley‘There may have been costs to uniting the right around a hatred of mainstream media.” (08/14/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-last-conservative-consensus/
- Unattended Baggage, episode 352
Source: Unattended Baggage
“US Navy: It’s what’s for dinner!” (08/15/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-352-us-navy-its-whats-for
- Free Talk Live, 08/15/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Politician steals from taxpayers and is caught :: Jason Arday professor in Cambridge who didn’t earn his position fairly kills himself :: Arday had lied about being mute and sports achievements and his attendance at various universities :: DEI and woke’s dark side :: FSP in the news :: Atilis Gym owner in NJ used Kickstarter to fund his fight against gov during Covid :: FlockHopper.com to search for cams near you :: haveibeenflocked.com/ to check if a cam has spotted you and a cop searched your LP number :: Fighting for free speech to have a license that says FTP&ATF :: WhatNot app. Gambling? Only a crime without a license :: 2026-08-15 Hosts: Bonnie, Chris R.” (08/15/26)
- Kinsella on Liberty, episode 496
Source: StephanKinsella.com
“Matt Sands and Kinsella on the Universal Principles of Liberty and the Nations of Sanity ‘Peace Agreement.’” (08/15/26)
- Rising, 08/14/26
Source: The Hill
“Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is expected to plead guilty to federal stalking charges.” (08/14/26)
- The Anarchist Experience, episode 593
Source: The Anarchist Experience.
“Riley is still away. So Rich E Rich Reads the News. HEADLINES … When Society Breaks: The Human Threats You’ll Face in a Real SHTF Collapse … The Burrito Debate … Economic Liberty Begins Where Government Privilege Ends.” (08/14/26)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2026/08/14/the-anarchist-experience-593/
- Lindsey Snell on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Journalist Lindsey Snell returns to the show to talk about Syria.” (08/14/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/8-11-26-lindsey-snell-on-the-troubling-new-regime-in-syria/
- IP … Frequently, episode 341
Source: IP … Frequently
“An Obstructed View.” (08/14/26)
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/ip-frequently/episodes/Ep–341—An-Obstructed-View-e3nckbi
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/14/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“How Long Will The U.S Drag This Out In Iran?” (08/14/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 08/14/26
Source: Washington Post
“Why this professor lost faith in higher education.” (08/14/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-this-professor-lost-faith-in-higher-education/
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 478
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Claudia Lamb on life as a child star on Norman Lear’s most controversial show.” (08/14/26)